Mackenzie is a Scottish name with Gaelic roots. Derived from the Gaelic surname MacCoinnich, Mackenzie means "comely," "attractive" or "pleasant to look at." It can also mean "child of the wise leader" and "born of fire."
Mackenzie first appeared in the United States as a boy's name, but rapidly gained popularity as a girl's name when the actress Mackenzie Phillips appeared on TV in the 1980s. (Interestingly, her full name is Laura Mackenzie Phillips. Like Laura Reese Witherspoon, the actress ignited a major baby name trend by using her middle name professionally.)
Today, Mackenzie is a gender-neutral name used for boys and girls. In the United States, it's more popular for girls. In other parts of the world, including Scotland, Mackenzie remains predominantly a boy's name.
Similar to other popular "M" names for girls, like McKenna and McKayla, Mackenzie gives off a modern yet classic vibe. Mackenzie is pronounced "muh-KEN-zee," and can have many different spellings, including Mckenzie, Makenzee, Mckinzie, Makenzi, Makenzie, Mackenzee, MacKenzie and McKenzie.
Mackenzie lends itself well to many nicknames that can make your Mackenzie stand out from the rest. From Kenzie and Mack to Ken, Enzi, or Mackie, you can add a unique twist to this popular name, making it more masculine or feminine to match your little one's personality.
Over the past 30 years, Mackenzie has gone from an unusual name to well-known regular for girls in United States. It skyrocketed in popularity in the 1990s, and peaked in 2001. After 20 years, Mackenzie recently dropped off the Social Security Administration's top-100 baby names for girls.
As often happens, Mackenzie dropped in popularity for boys as it took off as a name for girls. After peaking in 1994, Mackenzie fell off the SSA's top-1,000 boy names in 2001.
The name's popularity among BabyCenter parents follows a similar trend. Mackenzie was in the top-100 baby girl names from 2000 to 2017. Though it dropped out of the top 100 names in 2018, Mackenzie remains a popular name for baby girls. (BabyCenter's ranking is based on data from hundreds of thousands of parents who share their baby's name with us.)
While Mackenzie has dipped in popularity, the name has staying power. Given its sweet and spunky appeal, you can expect this name to continue showing up on the charts for years to come.
